Clearing the Path for First-Generation College Students

Qualitative and Intersectional Studies of Educational Mobility

Afterword by Jenny Stuber Contributions by Trista Beard, Kim Godsoe, Casandra E. Harper, Allison L. Hurst, Véronique Irwin, Anthony Abraham Jack, Judy Marquez Kiyama, Rory Kramer, Elizabeth M. Lee, Robin Minthorn, Ann L. Mullen, Delma Ramos, Bedelia Nicola Richards, Ashley C. Rondini, Thomas Piñeros Shields, Nicolas P. Simon, Fanny Yeung, Natalie Rose Youngbull Edited by Ashley C. Rondini, Bedelia Nicola Richards, Nicolas P. Simon

Publication date:

07 June 2018

Length of book:

384 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

ISBN-13: 9781498537018

Clearing the Path for First-Generation College Students comprises a wide range of studies that explore the multidimensional social processes and meanings germane to the experiences of first-generation college students before and during their matriculation into institutions of higher education. The chapters offer timely, empirical examinations of the ways that these students negotiate experiences shaped by structural inequities in higher education institutions and the pathways that lead to them. This volume provides insight into the dilemmas that arise from the transformation of students’ class identities in pursuit of upward mobility, as well as their quest for community and a sense of “belonging” on college campuses that have not been historically designed for them. While centering first-generation status, this collection also critically engages the ways in which other dimensions of social identity intersect to inform students’ educational experiences in relation to dynamics of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, gender, and immigration. Additionally, this book takes a holistic approach by exploring the ways in which first-generation college students are influenced by, and engage with, their families and communities of origin as they undertake their educational careers.

Introduction: Clearing the Path: Situating First-Generation Students’ Experiences in Qualitative, Intersectional Scholarship
Ashley C. Rondini, Bedelia Nicola Richards, and Nicolas P. Simon

1. “Cautionary Tales”: Low-Income First Generation College Students, Educational Mobility, and Familial Meaning-Making Processes
Ashley C. Rondini

2. Interdependent Relationships and Family Responsibilities: How Socioeconomic Status and Immigrant Histories Shape Second-Generation Asian American Experiences
Fanny Yeung

3. Out With the Old, In With the New? Habitus and Social Mobility at Selective Colleges
Elizabeth M. Lee and Rory Kramer

4. Moving Between Classes: Loyalists, Renegades, and Double Agents
Allison L. Hurst

5. Seeking Out Support: Looking Beyond Socioeconomic Status to Explain Academic Engagement Strategies at an Elite College
Anthony Abraham Jack and Véronique Irwin

6. Rethinking First-Generation College Status among Undocumented Immigrant Students
Thomas Piñeros Shields

7. First-generation Students and their Families: Examining Institutional Responsibility during College Access and Transition
Judy Marquez Kiyama, Casandra E. Harper, and Delma Ramos

8. Choosing Majors, Choosing Careers: How Gender and Class Shape Students’ Selection of Fields
Ann L. Mullen

9. Demystifying Influences on Persistence for Native American First-Generation College Students
Natalie Rose Youngbull and Robin Minthorn

10. Science Posse: The Importance of the Cohort in Normalizing Academic Challenge
Kim Godsoe

11. Toward a Local Student Success Model: Latino First-Generation College Student Persistence
Trista Beard

Afterword
Jenny Stuber

Clearing the Path is a timely, powerful, and refreshingly nuanced collection of qualitative studies on the unique struggles, strategies, and persistence of first-generation college students. By centering the diverse voices of first-generation students, chapters in this volume provide invaluable insights into the experiential core of higher education—a complex space too often neglected by those hoping to identify and address the needs of a growing number of first-generation students.